The Magic Garden, Hampton Court Palace

Client: Historic Royal Palaces

RMA won this exciting project to create a new garden for Hampton Court Palace through a rigorous competition process. An imaginative and playful new garden for families, The Magic Garden has been inspired by the rich history of the Palace and the site itself - which was Henry VIII’s former Tiltyard.

A strong garden structure has been developed upon which a series of character areas are layered. These include a tournament ground, wild wood, mythical beasts lair, strange topiary garden, encampment, and a spiral mount with moat and grotto. The journey through the garden provides challenges, obstacles and illusions that play with the notions of hierarchy, status and scale.

The practice worked with a number of artists and craftsmen who have created various mythical and heraldic beasts which occupy the garden, including a steam-emitting, 30 metre-long dragon, and a giant dragon’s nest in woven willow. The garden opened to the public at Easter 2016.